From the desert to the sea: Stories of nature protection in Victoria

Marine National Parks: Episode 6

Nyamat Meering / Sea Country – Visiting Gunditjmara Country

In our final episode on the marine environment of Victoria, we take a seat inside a workshop that focused on partnerships between organisations and groups that are caring for country, Sea Country.

 

We’ll explain what is known as ‘Nyamat Meering ‘ – referred to in the phrase ‘sea country’ – as we work towards understanding roles and definitions of rightsholders, stakeholders and the many different modes of engagement for local inhabitants in this watery space.

We visit Gunditjmara country and speak with Damein Bell, CEO of Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners’ Aboriginal Corporation, and group of Gunditj Mirring staff. Gunditj Mirring represents the Native Title interests of the Gunditjmara people

 

This episode is copyright of Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation. It was produced in collaboration with Federation of Victorian Traditonal Owner Corporations (FVTOC), Gunditj Mirring and VNPA.

Marine National Parks: Episode 5

Shaping of coastal policy and the legacy of the 1969 Little Desert

In Victoria, 90% of the coast is public land, and community organisations like the Victorian National Parks Association are committed to keeping it like this.

We explore the role political processes play in protecting nature as well as ongoing threats to address in managing marine National Parks and Sanctuaries.

We hear (among others) from Geoff Wescott, who has been deeply involved with shaping coastal and marine environmental policies in Victoria. In 2015 he chaired the expert panel that advise our current 2018 Marine and Coastal Act.

 

Interviewees:

• Geoff Wescott, board member of the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council and Honorary Research Fellow at Deakin University
• Shannon Hurley, Coastal Campaigner VNPA
• Mark Rodrigue, Parks Victoria, State-wide Leader – Marine and Coasts

Marine National Parks: Episode 4

The passionate bunch

National Parks are one of the few mechanisms that we have that protect “whole ecosystems,” which is different to looking at individual threatened species.

From a natural resource management perspective, our Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries are sites of complex interactions and multiple interests.

Many researchers and land managers have dedicated their working lives to the protection of our beautiful National Parks.

Their work on environmental awareness connects to the work of community advocates, who are often driven to dedication through passion.

 

Interviewees:

• Joan Lindros, Geelong Environmental Council and former president of VNPA
• Shannon Hurley, Coastal Campaigner VNPA
• Mark Rodrigue, Parks Victoria, State-wide Leader – Marine and Coasts

Marine National Parks: Episode 3

Groundworks – organising the community

In this episode, we celebrate the achievements that the Victorian community has initiated over the past decades including the creation of our system of Marine National Parks and sanctuaries in 2002.

 

We pay our tribute to the political legacy of previous community activism, so we’ll look closely at the community-led campaign that lasted more than 10 years leading to the creation of the world-first system of Marine National Parks and sanctuaries.

 

Hear from two of the community organisers who got the ball rolling.

 

Interviewees:

• Tim Allen, former coordinator of the Coastal Community Network
• Chris Smyth, former VNPA coastal campaigner

Marine National Parks: Episode 2

From underwater photography to a canopy of care

This episode brings together a number of perspectives to outline how particular natural spaces – in our case the underwater world – entered the public imagination of Victorians and sparked a political discussion that led to their wider protection.

 

Hear from Mark Rodrigue of Parks Victoria, who looks after our Marine Parks and Sanctuaries in Victoria, before we embark on a short boat ride across Port Philip Bay and to go swimming with dolphins.

Judith Muir, from Polperro Dolphin Swims, shares her experience with the Bay as educator and eco-tourism operator

 

Interviewees:

• Mark Rodrigue, Parks Victoria, State-wide Leader – Marine and Coasts
• Judith Muir, Eco-tourism operator, Polperro Dolphin Swims

Marine National Parks: Episode 1

Putting Marine National Parks on the map, walking around Port Phillip Bay

The Bay is our point of departure into the creation of Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries in Victoria.

Our first episode looks broadly at a wider environmental context including the bay’s social and geological time — because Port Phillip Bay is very rich in both.

 

Graham Patterson, a local historian and avid bushwalker, will talk and walk us around Port Philip Bay. Explaining its geological as well its more recent European Settlement history — while he introduces us to some of the current environmental threats facing the bay.

 

We hear from Sandie Webb about her special connection to the Jawbone Marine Sanctuary, an ecological gem just out of Williamstown in Melbourne.

Interviewees:

• Graham Patterson, local historian and author of “Coastal guide to nature and history: Port Phillip Bay“
• Sandy Webb, Jawbone Marine Sanctuary Care Group

Little Desert: Episode 4

Nature conservation and environmental policy making in Victoria today – the legacy of the 1969 Little Desert dispute

In this episode we will talk about the implications of the Little Desert dispute for us in Victoria today.

Matt Ruchel, Executive Director of the Victorian National Parks Association talks about the organisation's part in the 1969 campaign for the Little Desert.

Hear from Joan Philips, who is the Executive Director of the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC). VEAC is the successor organisation of the Land Conservation Council, which was a direct outcome from the Little Desert dispute.

We also hear from Zoe Wilkinson, Parks Victoria Area Chief Ranger for the Wimmera. Zoe is overseeing the nature conservation work that is happening on-the-ground at the Little Desert national park today.

Interviewees:

• Matt Ruchel, CEO Victorian National Parks Association
• Joan Phillips, Executive Officer, Victorian Environmental Assessment Council
• Zoe Wilkinson, Area-chief ranger for the Wimmera, Parks Victoria

Little Desert: Episode 3

The Little Desert today

Although it is protected as a national park, time does not stand still in the Little Desert. Even to this day the region remains a hotbed for social and environmental innovations in Victoria.

We look beyond the Desert’s dramatic history that led to the 1969 conservation controversy, and turn to some recent highlights.

Hear from Brett Harrison, Executive Officer of the Barengi Gadjin Land Council. They achieved the first successful case of Native Title Consent Determination in Victoria.

Together with the retired farmers and naturalists couple Maree and Graham Goods we do a little inventory of the diverse and beautiful flora and fauna that still lives today in the Little Desert, and hear about the changes in local agriculture.

We also talk about one of the latest innovations in nature conservation called “rewilding” — with Ben Holmes from Conservation Volunteers Australia.

Interviewees:

• Brett Harrison, CEO of Barengi Gadjin Land Council
• Maree and Graham Goods, authors of the photographic guide book: Birds and plants of the Little Desert.
• Ben Holmes, Conversation Volunteers Australia

Little Desert: Episode 2

Historical background of 1969's Little Desert dispute – cont.

We explore the rise of environmental consciousness in Australia and relationship between urban and regional groups.

Hear from environmental historian Don Garden and gain a deeper understanding of the broader social context of the campaign.

Local resident Whimpey Reichelt also shares his personal experience of the campaign.

Interviewees:

• Don Garden, environmental historian (University of Melbourne)
• Raymond ‘Whimpey’ Reichelt, Wimmera local and founder of the Little Desert Nature Lodge

Little Desert: Episode 1

Historical background of 1969's Little Desert dispute

In this episode we unpack the historical context of the campaign that led to the substantial extension of the Little Desert National Park, and how it contributed to the changes in Victorian political processes.

We interview Malcolm Calder about his personal involvement in the campaign and about the extraordinary work of other key players.

Interviewee:

• Malcolm Calder, retired botanist (University of Melbourne) and member of the Save our Bushlands Action Committee